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Charge quantization from a number operator

dc.creatorFurey, C
dc.date.accessioned2018-11-24T23:18:45Z
dc.date.available2016-03-29T11:25:06Z
dc.date.available2018-11-24T23:18:45Z
dc.date.issued2015-01-26
dc.identifierhttps://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/254683
dc.identifier.urihttp://repository.aust.edu.ng/xmlui/handle/123456789/3332
dc.description.abstractWe explain how an unexpected algebraic structure, the division algebras, can be seen to underlie a generation of quarks and leptons. From this new vantage point, electrons and quarks are simply excitations from the neutrino, which formally plays the role of a vacuum state. Using the ladder operators which exist within the system, we build a number operator in the usual way. It turns out that this number operator, divided by 3, mirrors the behaviour of electric charge. As a result, we see that electric charge is quantized because number operators can only take on integer values. Finally, we show that a simple hermitian form, built from these ladder operators, results uniquely in the nine generators of SUc(3) and Uem(1). This gives a direct route to the two unbroken gauge symmetries of the standard model.
dc.languageen
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.publisherPhysics Letters B
dc.rightshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/
dc.rightsAttribution 2.0 UK: England & Wales
dc.titleCharge quantization from a number operator
dc.typeArticle


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